


Chapter Two

by anime_babble



Category: Hachimitsu to Clover | Honey and Clover
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-24
Updated: 2012-05-24
Packaged: 2017-11-05 22:17:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/411600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anime_babble/pseuds/anime_babble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The heart beats on and will not stop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter Two

I love you, he’d told her, one blue afternoon over coffee, out of nowhere, as if he were discussing the weather. He’d told her; I love you. Let yourself love me.

She’d reacted as could be expected – more out of habit, than from his confession - with a swift overhead kick and anger at his teasing.

She tries not to think about the possibility that he had been perfectly serious for once, because that scares her beyond all reasoning. She doesn’t want to consider the fact that this could change everything between them; that he would leave and she would miss him, with his sly, secret smiles, and confident air. That he’s somehow woven himself into her life without her knowing, and to tear him out now would tear her apart too.

Mayama, she chants to herself. I am in love with Mayama. Isn’t she? She chased him for this long, wanted him since forever. She’s not one of those fickle girls, throwing herself into one love affair after another, more in love with the thrill of the chase than the people involved.

Nomiya, she thinks angrily, should know better. He’d known from the start where her heart lay after all.

But then, she’d known from the outset who Mayama loved, and it hadn’t stopped her.

***

Nomiya stops coming to see her after that. There are no more random trips to her family’s liquor store, no chance meetings at school that he arranges. She finds herself watching for him, believing he’ll appear around the corner, the way she’s grown accustomed to.

He doesn’t come. Her heart whispers, you may never see him again.

***

Mayama notices her depressed mood and takes her out for dinner one night to cheer her up. Once, she knows she would have been elated; time alone! with Mayama. Instead she spends the dinner twisting at the napkin on her lap awkwardly. If he were Nomiya, she’d be smiling at one of his jokes by now. If he were Nomiya, she would feel perfectly at ease, instead of the way she feels now; like a little girl playing dress up, terribly conscious of dropping food on her dress, and anxious to make a good impression.

She remembers that once, Nomiya shanghaied her to a different province, just to try their soba, and, for no reason at all, she suddenly wants to cry. Mayama notices and says nothing. 

He takes her home early.

***

Posters of big cities, in a store that Hagu drags her to.

Her artist’s eye is caught by Paris, the city of light. Nomiya once told her that if he ever convinced a woman to marry him, Paris would be where he’d take her for their honeymoon, with a sly sideways glance that she’d almost, but not quite, missed. He’d been there before, on a business trip, and raved about it; his favorite city of all. You’d love it, he’d said, if given the chance.

***

A few weeks later, and she still can’t shake the strange hollow in her heart. She tries to throw herself into preparations for Mayama’s birthday party, a little excitement to cheer her up. Takemoto and Hagu are low on cash and decide to join forces. They debate between getting him a dress-shirt or a tie, or both, or perhaps he’d like a new motorcycle helmet? Ayu, they call, what’s his favorite color?

She realizes she’s forgotten or maybe she never knew.

***

She watches Mayama helping Rika out of a car, a chance sighting on a rainy day. Mayama’s hand clasps gently over Rika’s wrist, his other hand holding the umbrella over her head. Ayumi watches from across the street, a sense of deja vu washing over her.

She waits for that familiar ache in her heart. Instead, all she feels is relief and release.

***

A month to the day after Nomiya’s confession. A month of no Nomiya at all.

Her feet find the way to his office, her heart guiding the way, before her mind realizes where she’s going. She’s crazy, she’s insane, she’s been a fool for far too long. Ayumi opens the door, and everyone in the office turns to stare at her, Leader barking out a greeting; hello again and welcome.

Nomiya is seated at his desk, his face turned toward her in mild surprise. As she crosses the room, she notes with a twinge in her heart that he’s lost weight recently. He watches her intently, searching for a sign, any sign, to understand why she’s here.

She feels tears in her eyes, but she’s smiling too, and happiness bubbles in her, threatening to spill.

Nomiya, she says, I love you too.

[End]


End file.
